


This Time with a Sniper Rifle

by cdrlizziebean



Series: Cdrlizziebean's Baby Shenko Collection [10]
Category: Mass Effect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 11:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1980630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cdrlizziebean/pseuds/cdrlizziebean





	This Time with a Sniper Rifle

Little Ashley Alenko had a tendency to show up where she wasn’t supposed to be. She was small, agile, and quiet…until boredom took over.

Shepard had left her with the overly chipper secretary at the makeshift Embassy building while she and Kaidan discussed the rebuilding of the Citadel with the Council. Ashley watched the woman click away on the computer until her parents disappeared into the elevator then decided the six story building, still under construction, would be much more fun to explore.

She slipped slowly off the metal waiting chair, ducked behind a pillar, and darted to the now empty elevators. The doors closed behind her.

“One, deux, troi…four…” She counted the floors carefully, standing on her tip toes to reach the very top button. “Five…SIX!” The elevator jolted upward causing her to fall onto the ground. Sticking out her lower lip in frustration, Ashley readjusted her stockings as high as she could on her legs, even though her mother had rolled them down earlier, and stood. She brushed off any dust from her overalls and angrily pointed at the panel. “Ne fais pas ça!” she shouted.

The elevator rolled to a stop at the sixth floor and before the doors could completely open she had bounded out the door, curly red hair bouncing out of her hair clips. For a five year old, Ashley prided herself in having excellent methods of decision making. She closed her eyes tightly, threw her arms out, and spun erratically before the elevator. When she finally stopped she had found herself facing a door with a sign.

“Le toit!” she giggled to herself after careful decryption. Her mother would have been proud of her expanding knowledge of reading if she could have seen her—Ashley was sure of it. She pulled the door open and made her way up the dark stairway to another door.

Within moments, the wild haired child had found herself on the roof of the Embassy building. The sun shone brightly in the east with only a few clouds darting across the pale blue. She looked over the crumbling skyline. The remnants of the Reapers touch were still visible even seven years later. Ashley hadn’t known any other world but Shepard had promised her daughter that one day she’d see London the way it was supposed to be.

She skipped to the middle of the rooftop, little hands tucked away in the front pocket of her overalls.

“Well, well, never thought I’d find you here,” came a familiar voice from behind her.

“Uncle Garrus!” she shouted, jumping up and down. Garrus looked over his favorite preschooler with gentle eyes. She was her usual messy self; no matter how many times Shepard tried to keep her neat. Ashley’s hair was flying about her head from the wind, small butterfly clips clinging hopelessly to red stands; her knees showed some wear and tear from play; and her socks were beginning to fray from the amount of time she tugged them up. Garrus chuckled, clicking his talons against the sniper rifle he held. He had hoped to get some target practice done in the quiet of early morning but that hadn’t lasted long.

“Ashley, does Shepard know you’re up here?”

The little girl wrinkled her nose, placing a hand on her chin. “C’est un secret,” she teased.

“A secret, huh?” Garrus prodded, walking over to the mischievous child. “That means she doesn’t know you’re up here, doesn’t it?” Ashley giggled, jumping over to him. She poked his gun, cocking her head.

“What’re you doing with that?” she mused, avoiding his question.

“Target practice,” he responded, pulling the sniper rifle away from her touch. She reached out for it again, placing her hand firmly on the barrel.

“Can I try?”

“I don’t think you’re mo—”

“S’il vous plaît,” she whimpered, pouting out her lip. Garrus sighed. It was hard to say no to her.

“Fine,” he exclaimed, rubbing his forehead. Ashley tugged gleefully on the gun before he took her by the wrist and led her over to his crude set up.

She waited, cross legged at his feet, for him to give her directions. Her green eyes intent as he explained how to shoot the gun.

“Those,” he stated, gesturing over to the series of cans on the abandoned building across the way, “are your targets.” She looked over, eyes narrowed. “Got it?” She nodded fiercely, sliding into position between him and the gun. He held the gun in place, fearing the kickback, though minimal. “You’re mother’s going to kill me,” he mutter to himself as Ashley took in a deep breath, held it, and then pulled the trigger.

A can across the way danced off the edge of the building as the bullet nicked its side. Ashley pushed herself away from the gun. “Did I do it?” she breathed, her face flushed with excitement.

“You sure did, bug,” Garrus muttered, in astonishment. He wrapped both his arms around her, lifting her from the ground. Squirming, she turned herself in his grasp and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. “Let’s go find your parents, huh?”

She squealed with joy nuzzling her face against his neck. She yawned slightly, eyes fluttering closed. Garrus was glad she was easy to tire out.

He made his way to the Councilor meeting room, finding Shepard and Kaidan talking with the Turian Councilor.

“Ah, Vakarian, just the man I wanted to see,” the councilor exclaimed when he came into view.

“I see you found Ash,” Shepard mused, removing her groggy offspring from his arms. Ashley shifted her weight onto her mother and balled her fist in the collar of Shepard’s shirt. “Where was she?” Garrus looked down, not sure how to answer.

“Le toit…” Ashley mumbled. “Bang…bang…”

“The roof?” Kaidan responded in a half shout.

“Yeah, she somehow found the roof,” Garrus said, laughing nervously.

“Bang…bang…maman…bang bang…” Ashley continued to mumble.

“What about bang bang?” Shepard cooed, patting down her daughter’s wild hair.

“I make bang bang…” she giggled, eyes slowly opening. “I’m like you now, maman.”

“Garrus?” Shepard prodded.

“Ah, Councilor you said you needed to speak with me?” He quickly skirted past Shepard and Kaidan and into the meeting room.

“Don’t tell me you let her shoot a gun! Garrus?!…Garrus Vakarian, I’m going to kill you!” Shepard called after.

She looked down at her daughter’s bright face.

“Bang bang, maman!”


End file.
